1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to techniques of editing video content data stored in a content server, and more particularly to techniques of allowing a communication terminal to edit the video content data stored in the content server.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is known an apparatus for storing content including video content and/or audio content in a storage device such as a hard disc, and for editing (e.g., trimming or clipping) the content. Examples of such an apparatus include a home AV (Audio-Visual) device, or a personal computer (PC). Such an apparatus is configured to allow a user to conduct an editing operation for selected content, while the content is being played back. Then, such an apparatus edits the content in accordance with the user's editing operation.
There is also a known technique of allowing a data transmission unit (e.g., a terminal) to transmit to a data editing unit (e.g., a server) via a network, video content which has been captured, together with editing information which has been produced to reflect a user's operation or manipulation, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2001-346159.
In this technique, the data editing unit edits the video content in accordance with the editing information which has been received from the data transmission unit. This technique requires the data transmission unit to upload the video content entirely and intactly, via the network.
There is also a known technique, for reducing a transmission cost for a network, of reformatting original content into downsized substitute content for editing, through a conventional compression scheme, as disclosed in, for example, a first non-patent literature, titled “Editing Support for Linkage with MPEG Movie Camera,” Japan Patent Office>Archives(other references)>Collection of Standard Techniques>Non-linear Editing>6-3, online, visited on Apr. 1, 2009, Internet<URL:http://www.jpo.go.jp/shiryou/s_sonota/hyoujun_gijut su/nle/nle-6-3.html>.
In contrast, there is a known technique of editing, by a mobile terminal, video content stored in a content server. This technique requires the mobile terminal to download the video content entirely and intactly, via a network.
In this regard, the user is required to instruct the mobile terminal to perform a high speed playback in search for an edit point in the video content.
On the other hand, there is a known technique of performing a macro (coarse) search in which ones of images are selected and displayed at intervals of a long search time, and subsequently a micro (fine) search in which displaying of the images starts at a selected one of the images, and ones of the images are selected and displayed at intervals of a short search time, to allow the user to identify an edit point for a reduced time, as disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent No. 4104071.
This would not require original content to be downloaded entirely from a content server, and would require only some of all the images which occur at interval of the long and short search times, to be downloaded. This can reduce the cost required for transmission and the length of time required for editing.
In addition, there is a known technique of detecting positions at which consecutive video frames in content change in feature, and of assigning these positions to candidate cut-points for cutting away a portion of the content for cut-editing, as disclosed in, for example, the second non-patent literature, titled “Automated Indexing of Video Information,” Japan Patent Office>Archives (other references)>Collection of Standard Techniques>Non-linear Editing>4-2-1, online, visited on Apr. 1, 2009, Internet<URL:http://www.jpo.go.jp/shiryou/s_sonota/hyoujun_gijut su/nle/nle-4-2-1.html>.